Thursday, May 28, 2015

Allow me
to make one thing clear, I normally do not use a flash in my work.I've never felt a need for flash in capturing
landscape or wildlife and the nature work I've done has never suffered due to a
lack of lighting.

Mitakon
50mm f/18 1/125 ISO 200 Captured 7:12 pm) (720nm)

FE24-70
(47mm) f/8 1/100 ISO 160 (830nm)

The above
is accurate as far as normal black & white or color is concerned; it's also
somewhat accurate with infrared.I
remember getting a phone call from a good friend Ken Doo who's been dabbling in
IR, Ken found an ad for a UV/IR wave reflector for his Qflash T2.According to the information, the QF80
replaces the standard reflector on the flash and permits mounting 67mm threaded
filters to "produce narrow or broad band wavelengths of flash illumination
from Ultraviolet to visible to infrared." (click here for
more information.)

Mitakon
50mm f/18 1/5400 ISO 100 (captured 10 am) (830nm)

The
intended purpose of the QF80 rank from forensics such as crime scene, skin
mapping, gun stain reside (GSR), documentation and what appears as an after
thought - fine arts.

During a
2-week period of searching we were only able to find one-QF80 available for
sale.During this same period I
contacted Quantum Instruments only to find the QF80 was no longer being made.Looking at the general design of the
reflector lead me to believe that one could be made using copious amounts of
gaffers tape and cutting a small sheet of plastic to fit the opening.The good news is that the homemade reflector
works.The other good news is that I was
able to get a real QF80 and the even better news is that it seems that Quantum
Instruments has decided to begin making the QF80 again within a couple months.

Mitakon
50mm f/18 1/125 ISO 100 (830nm)

Mitakon
50mm f/18 1/125 ISO 100 (wide spectrum)

I've been
experimenting using a Quantum Qflash T2 and the QF80 the past couple
weeks.The camera I've been testing this
on is my Sony A7r that was converted by Life Pixel to capture wide spectrum.The lenses are my standard Sony FE24-70 and a
Mitakon 50mm Speedmaster f/0.95. So far
I've experimented using the flash with wide spectrum, 720nm and 830nm
filters.I've also found that I like the
files from the wide spectrum/flash when using bare bulb versus the need of
using the same wavelength filter with the 720 or 830 filters.

FE24-70
(64mm) f/8 1/125 (720nm)

The
samples included here run the gamut of being shot outdoors during the day to
early evening to indoors using both additional lighting or no lighting other
than flash.Some of the samples have
been processed thoroughly using a combination of Capture One Pro and Photoshop
CC (along with NIK software) while others have had nothing done other than a
custom white balance.

Here's a
sample progression of a file - Calla Lily

Mitakon
50mmf/18 1/30 ISO 200

as shot from camera

after white balance adjustment in C1 Pro

white balance adjustment &sepia adjustment in C1 Pro

white balance adjustment & black & white adjustment
in C1 Pro

I'm
slowly getting more comfortable using a flash along with infrared and see where
it helps in creating a more dynamic image.The next item on my bucket list is using the flash in older buildings
and automobiles; we'll have to see how that goes.

So after
all these years I've begun using flash.The interesting aspect is that not only will this setup work on my
converted camera it'll work just as well on both my Phase One DF body and Cambo
WRS technical camera and I'm looking forward to testing it on all of them.

In the
end in case you're wondering; yes, you can use a flash when capturing in
infrared.The best practice is the use
of dual filters.If you're using a 720nm
filter on your lens then you need an equal filter (720nm) on your flash.Working with this combination you won't see a
bright flash, and unless you're standing directly in front of the flash you
won't see it go off at all.

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